Page 30 of The Widower's Nanny

She holds up a can opener and frowns at it as though she’s never seen one, then she cocks her head and smiles at me. “As long as I can figure out how to use this thing, I think I can handle it.”

“Is there more coffee?”

She fills my cup and hands it to me. “It’s kind of upsetting that this tastes just as good as the coffee coming out of my five hundred dollar coffee machine.”

She holds up the percolator. “Two dollars at the thrift store?”

I laugh. “Probably.”

“We could take this back with us.”

“Let’s save that for here. You never know when we might get stuck in the rain again.”

“You’re right. You never know.”

We share another long gaze, but this time she looks away first. I detect a slight blush, which makes her cheeks a lovely shade of pink. It would seem she’s as unsure as I am. She sets the three cans on the counter and begins opening them. I watch her for a moment then figure she probably doesn’t need an audience.

I go to the tent and kneel in front of the entrance. “How’s it going in there, Lilly?”

“Come inside. I’m making shadow puppets, but I don’t know how to do it. I can only make a rabbit.”

“Hold on.” I put my cup on the table, then crawl into the tent. “Okay. Let me see if I can remember how this works.” I figure out how to do a few different animals. They are rough and don’t really resemble what they are supposed to look like, but Lilly is delighted.

When Rachel says dinner is ready, we both crawl out of the tent. I stretch out my back then go to the table. Since two of the chairs are being used to hold up the tent, there is only two left at the table. Rachel has set up a step stool for Lilly to sit on.

There are three bowls with our chosen meal, along with some crackers.

“It’s not fancy. But hopefully, it’ll fill us up.” She sits down.

I help Lilly onto the stool then sit down in the chair next to her. “Looks great. A perfect adventure meal. As long as we don’t run out of cookies.”

“I think maybe Benjy likes his cookies. There’s a few packages of them.”

Lilly claps. “Yay!”

I look at her. “Eat your soup and there might be another cookie or two in your future.”

She picks up her spoon. “May I have a cracker, please?”

“Of course.” I hand her a few crackers. “Do you want them in your soup?”

She wrinkles her nose. “No. That’s gross.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, what was I thinking?” I wink at Rachel. She looks away from me and blushes, again.There is definitely something going on here. I winked at her. What’s that about?

I turn back to Lilly. “So, what should we do after dinner?”

“Are there any games?”

I think for a moment. “I think there might be a game or two in the wardrobe next to the bed.”

She starts to get down, and I put a hand on her arm. “Eat first.”

She nods and resumes eating her soup. I smile at Rachel. “Are you up for a game or two?”

“Sure. I love board games. Except for Monopoly.”

“I don’t believe there is anything quite as elaborate as Monopoly. If I remember correctly, there is Life, Sorry, and a couple of card games.”

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